


Secret Santa

by strawberrylace



Series: Holiday One Shots [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21632869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylace/pseuds/strawberrylace
Summary: or, alternatively titled, how to tell your crush you like them with only 20 dollars to spare
Relationships: Finn & Rey & Rose Tico, Poe Dameron & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: Holiday One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563769
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Secret Santa

**Author's Note:**

> Tis the Holidays!! Since we're getting closer to another new Star Wars movie, why not officially kick it off with a one shot? Enjoy!

The lull of the Thanksgiving holiday had come and gone. Everyone at Resistance Tech was buzzing about the arrival of Christmas. Some had been anticipating it's arrival long before. One thing that everyone was looking forward to was the annual Secret Santa. The company was small enough where everyone would be paired up with someone and the results were always a pleasant surprise. This year was Poe's first Secret Santa at the company and he already knew the exact person he had in mind. When it came time to draw the names from the baseball cap, Poe felt oddly nervous. He looked over at his coworkers who had already drawn their names, keeping a great poker face. As he plucked the piece of paper and looked at the name written, he couldn't believe his luck. This was it. This was really happening. 

"What do you get the person who has everything they could want in the world?" Poe asked out loud, picking up a random spatula. "All on a twenty dollar budget nonetheless?" 

"I take it we're talking about Finn here, correct?" Ben asked. "Can anyone put a price on professing their true feelings when they don't know the results? Ideally, there is no limit as to what you can give. But realistically, if you had to go romantic, a scented candle to set the mood?" 

"But I can give anyone a scented candle! This is my first Secret Santa and I want this to be perfect. It's bad enough that Finn has no idea how hopeless in love I am with him." 

"And what better way to profess your love than with a sanctioned office Secret Santa?" 

"Ben, this is serious. I mean, it's gotta be fate that we both ended up with our crushes for Secret Santa. How are you not freaking out over this? I mean, how many times have you tried to approach Rey about how much you like her and then have to go to the bathroom so you don't throw up?" 

"Please, I am freaking out about it," Ben rolled his eyes, beginning to pace around the aisle. "You know what I got Rey? I got her a red velvet pancake mix with a bag of chocolate chips and a spatula. Yes, I know she's gonna love it. She has to, she's a baker! But I'm also thinking of the worst case scenario with this, like what if of all the things she loves to bake, red velvet is her least favorite thing? You ever notice that she's never brings in anything red velvet when it comes to her baked goods?" 

"Ben!" 

Ben stopped in his tracks, realizing he was rambling. "Sorry. This is about you. Look, would it take your mind off figuring out the perfect Secret Santa gift if I told you that Finn feels the same way about you?" 

Poe nearly dropped the candle that he was holding when he heard this. It was true. When Poe first came over to Resistance Tech, it was Finn who showed him around at the company and from there, it was love at first sight. Poe had fallen head over heals for the smart, witty, charming, kind, young man with a smile that shone brighter than 1000 stars on a clear night sky. However, there was a matter of whether Finn liked him in the same way that Poe did. There were moments where it seemed that the feeling was mutual, such as discussing their love of Guillermo Del Toro movies while sipping wine during the summer company picnic or when they bonded over their love of Phoebe Bridgers during the Halloween party. Ben was well aware of these moments, encouraging Poe that it was the perfect opportunity to just tell Finn. But for Poe, the timing of telling Finn how he felt just never seemed right. So he pined away in secrecy.

"BEN NO!" Poe squeaked. "Oh my god, why would you tell me this? Oh my god, he likes me too? Now I have to get him the perfect gift!" 

"Poe, get a grip!" Ben grabbed Poe by both shoulders. "Every time we have a party, I see the way that Finn looks at you. It's the same way you steal glances at him in the office. It's cute. But you don't see how he sees you because you're so worried about what could possibly go wrong. You know what you're going to do? You're going to take a deep breath. Afterwards you're going to clear your head. You can do this and you'll think of a great gift." 

Poe took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I can do this. Also, how much is the cheapest bottle of chardonnay?" 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Two weeks after names had been drawn, the Secret Santa day had arrived. Poe's coworkers were dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters and festive colors as they sipped on egg nog and noshed on gingerbread cookies. All the Secret Santa gifts were placed on a table, all beautifully wrapped and decorated. Poe's nerves were at bay for the most part. He had been keeping his distance from Finn throughout the party, sticking close by to Ben. It was better this way, he figured. But Finn did look extra cute in his ugly Christmas sweater. Why did he have to wear it, Poe wondered. 

"You good?" Ben asked, nudging Poe's shoulder. 

Poe snapped out of his trance. "I mean, we're gonna see after Finn opens my gift. Oh my god, what if he hates it?" 

"Poe, stop. He's not going to hate it. Hey, do you think I put enough ribbon on Rey's gift?" 

Poe looked inquisitively at Ben's gift. There was a lot of ribbon. It appeared that Ben had used three different shades of red ribbon. Granted, it was a bit excessive, but there was heart with where Ben was going. 

"I think you should've used more red ribbon," Poe joked.

"Hello! Hello!" 

Everyone's heads turned to the front of the room. A pixie-ish young lady with short black hair dressed in a Stranger Things themed Christmas sweater waited patiently for the crowd to settle. Rose Ticonderoga grinned with excitement, eager to start another Secret Santa. 

"Hi! I hope everyone is ready for Secret Santa! Last year's was such a great success and I know this year will be even better!" 

Rose pulled out the first gift from the pile, a tiny sparkly green gift bag addressed to one of the senior coworkers in the office. People oohed and aahed at their gifts, grinning with approval upon the reveal of their Secret Santa. A couple more gifts were exchanged but not Poe's. He kept looking over at Finn, who remained in hood spirits as he looked over at what each of his coworkers received. 

"This next gift is for Finn!" Rose announced, looking over at the sparkly snowflake wrapping paper. "My, this is wrapped so beautifully!" 

"Ooh, this is heavy," Finn noted when he was handed the present. 

"Poe, he's opening your gift," Ben whispered. 

"Oh no, I can't watch," Poe whispered back, covering his eyes with his hands. 

While he couldn't see, Poe could hear Finn open the package carefully. He hoped that the contents fit in the box. He debated on whether he should've put them in a bag instead but found a box large enough to fit everything. He could hear the tissue paper being pulled out of the box. 

"Oh my god, I love this artist!" Finn exclaimed. 

Poe looked up to see Finn showing off Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers. He was grinning with excitement when he saw the bottle of chardonnay but what made him most excited was the small scented candle tucked in the box. 

"Wow, whoever knew that cinnamon vanilla was my favorite scent really knows me!" Finn smiled, proudly showing off his scented candle. "Thanks Secret Santa!" 

"Wait, I thought you said a scented candle was a bad idea?" Ben whispered to Poe. 

"Change of plan," Poe explained. "Plus, I had no idea he liked the same scent that I did." 

"You should tell him that." 

"Now? I don't want everyone to know it was me!" 

"Tell him after the game! You got this, Poe. You can do this." 

There were still many gifts to get through, including Ben's Secret Santa gift to Rey. When she received it, she couldn't stop talking to Finn about how excited she was to bake the pancakes, mentioning that red velvet were her favorite flavor. This gave Ben a great sense of pride. Poe received a set of guitar strings and picks from his Secret Santa and Ben received a beautifully knit red and black scarf. Once the Secret Santa was over, it was time for everyone to reveal themselves. 

"I hope you liked the guitar strings," Rose approached Poe, tapping him on the shoulder. "I know you play and all. One can never be without an extra set of strings!" 

"I did!" Poe replied. "That was very thoughtful of you. This turned out to be a huge success. You did a great job organizing this." 

"I'm so glad you think that! I love it when people reveal themselves because it takes you by surprise by how well people really know each other. Like Rey's gift. How sweet was that? I bet Ben got her that gift. I can tell he really likes her..." 

"Oh well..." 

Poe didn't say anything more as he and Rose turned to see Ben and Rey talking animatedly amongst themselves. It looked that things were going alright for him, Poe smiled to himself. 

"But I can't figure out who got Finn's gift," Rose pondered aloud. "I mean, I had no idea he liked chardonnay. That was also a very sweet bundle. Someone must really like him!" Rose paused for a moment and looked at Poe curiously. "Do you know who Finn's Secret Santa is?" 

"My ears are ringing!" Finn chimed in.

Rose smiled. "Finn! Poe and I were just talking about our Secret Santas. I was Poe's, Ben was Rey's..." 

"I mean, it was pretty obvious," Finn chuckled. 

"You were Jessika's, my sister was Ben's, Rey was mine, and we couldn't figure out who was yours! Did you figure it out, Finn?" 

"I think I have an idea of who it might be..." 

Poe gulped. 

"Ooh do tell!" Rose giggled. 

"Hey Rose!" Rey called out. "Can you help me with this tray in the kitchen?" 

"Sure!" Rose called back, turning to Finn and Poe. "Finn, don't leave me hanging!" 

Poe breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally alone. Well, as alone as he could be at an office party. But he knew he couldn't let Rose tell Finn. Poe could see Ben from the corner of his eye, giving him a supportive thumbs up. This was it. He took another deep breath of reassurance but before he could say anything, Finn beat him to the punch. 

"You're my Secret Santa, aren't you?" Finn asked. 

"Um, uh, what?" Poe stammered. 

"It wasn't that hard to figure it out," Finn chuckled. "I mean, Motion Sickness and chardonnay? There were only two people who know that those are some of my favorite things and I went shopping with Rey for our Secret Santa gifts. But I gotta say, the candle was the perfect touch!" 

"You really mean it?" Poe asked. 

"Absolutely. Funny, I had something similar planned if I had gotten you for Secret Santa." 

"You did?" Poe was grinning like a fool. 

"Yeah! I remembered that you liked Guillermo Del Toro films and that you're a sucker for vinyl. So I was going to do something along those lines for yours. Oh, and I would've added a bottle of pinot grigio to the gift because it's only fair they go perfectly with a bottle of wine!" 

It would've been the perfect Secret Santa gift that Poe had recieved. There was a ting of sadness that they weren't each other's Secret Santa but somehow the way that this ended up working out seemed so much better. 

"But now that I just spoiled your Christmas gift, I'm gonna have to come up with something new," Finn sighed. "This might be a bit last minute but theres this band that's playing this weekend and I was wondering, if you didn't have any plans..." 

"Yes!" Poe accepted excitedly.

Nothing more had to be said as the two of smiled goofily at one another, excited to see where this would potentially take them. Who really would've thought that love could be found at an office party?


End file.
